Question : Problem: convert Boot HDD from IDE to SATA

hi -

I have a machine that is booting off a standard IDE HDD. I have two SATA ports on the mobo (unused). What I want to do is start using RAID1 mirroring on the boot drive. My best plan was to somehow (WITHOUT reloading windows and my apps) mirror the IDE onto a new SATA (with another machine perhaps). Assuming I have the SATA mobo drivers installed prior to doing this - is this possible? Is there a better way idea?

What else might you recommend?

I am doing this for data security/redundancy.

TIA

Answer : Problem: convert Boot HDD from IDE to SATA

You can do this, if your motherboard supports changing the boot order from the IDE to the RAID array (not a forgone conclusion).  Install the drivers for the SATA controller and for the RAID (nVidia chipsets have two separate drivers), then use an imaging utility like Acronis True Image, Ghost, or BootIt NG to do a disk-to-disk copy of the IDE drive to the RAID array.  Reboot and change the boot order to the RAID array and it should work as before.